Roundup: Afghan conflicts claim 14 lives including 11 security personnel in 24 hours

Clashes have claimed 14 lives in conflict-ridden Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, officials said on Monday.

In the latest armed confrontation, three Taliban militants were killed in Dand-e-Shahabudin district of the northern Baghlan province since Sunday, police said.

"The security forces launched cleanup operation in Dand-e-Shahabudin district on Sunday and so far three Taliban rebels have been killed and eight others injured," provincial police spokesman Zabihullah Shija told reporters.

Three police personnel have also sustained injuries in the conflict which is still continuing in the area, the official added.

Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban, confirmed the clash in Dand-e-Shahabudin but claimed that militants had killed six security personnel and injuring two others.

But Mujahid said only one Taliban fighter had been killed in the firefight.

Since warring sides in Afghanistan usually exaggerate the casualties of opponents, it is difficult to verify their claims with independent sources.

On the other hand, the Afghan Defense Ministry admitted in a statement on Monday that up to 11 army personnel had been killed as the result of militants' attacks across the country over the past 24 hours.

The ministry claimed to have inflicted huge casualties on Taliban militants in the war-torn country, saying "several terrorists have been killed and injured during the cleanup operations against enemies across the country over the past 24 hours."

Without disclosing the precise number of casualties, the statement stated that the militants would be chased elsewhere in the country.

Both the government forces and anti-government militants, according to Afghan political observers, would do their best to gain more grounds and consolidate their positions ahead of snowfall in the mountainous country. Endit